Archive for August, 2012

I used to think it was solely about the preparation that goes into the dish that makes it…. Then I realized how differently my husband and I make our plates… WOW, can plating completely change how you view and taste a dish!
Take a commonly homemade dish like spaghetti for example….

Here my husband, Lawson starts out by covering the bottom of his bowl with mozzarella cheese. Needless to say… he likes his food very cheesy!

I start with the spaghetti and a meat sauce. There are so many ways you can make spaghetti and sauce. I like mine kind of spicy with more of a Cajun flare.

Lawson coats the layer of cheese with the hot meat sauce so that the cheese will melt faster. He also prefers to use a bowl.

I on the other hand usually prefer a plate. I take a more traditional route and simply top my spaghetti noodles with my meat sauce.

Lawson tops his off with his spaghetti noodles. He then uses a fork and a knife to cut the noodles smaller and mix all of the ingredients together.

I top my plate off with Parmesan cheese and add baby bell Gouda and garlic bread to the side. While I usually twirl my noodles, I also like to heap the spaghetti onto the garlic bread.

For two people who are so similar, it’s interesting that we basically make our plates completely backwards from each other. We both started with the same seasoned spaghetti noodles and spicy meat sauce, but ended up with very different looking and tasting dishes. So do not start thinking that your way of making your plate is the only way or that it does not matter because it’s all the same! This is far from the truth!
How do you make your plate?

*~Bonus~*

Do you get aggravated when you have left over hamburger or hot dog buns like I do? The bread ends up going stale before you decide to have hamburgers/ hot dogs again or there really aren’t enough buns left for next time anyway. Re-purpose them!!! Here I used left over slider buns to make garlic bread. A little butter, oregano, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, grind-ed sea salt and garlic mix, a few minutes in the oven, and you’ll never pay for over priced bread at the bakery again!

Just another thought… if the bread does go stale or even a little moldy, find a nice duck pond and have a relaxing picnic. A nice after noon out for you… a nice meal for the ducks!

If you have any ideas for re-purposing unused items in the kitchen please share! 🙂